Ryan Gosling laid a golden egg this week, sending a
letter to Costco urging the company to stop selling eggs from caged
hens. The story was covered by
hundreds of outlets, including
ABC’s Nightline.
Foster Farms was
exposed for a second time in one week with a new exposé by Compassion Over Killing at one of its turkey hatcheries, revealing routine animal abuse.
As Americans continue to eat less meat, not everyone’s happy about it. And they’re
waging a war on the new proposed dietary guidelines. The good news,
though, is that as a result of the continued decline in demand for meat,
the number of animals raised and killed for food in the US has dropped
by
400 million annually.
Just moments ago, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory
vetoed the ag-gag bill pending on his desk! Despite big backing from
the meat industry, the veto campaign got big traction this week when
the major newspapers in his state have editorialized urging him to veto, and the
AARP called on him to veto, too. Congratulations to all the animal advocates who worked so hard to achieve this major victory!
And speaking of governors and vetoes, it was
another bad week for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who’s still haunted
by his shameful veto of a bill to ban gestation crates.
Jon Stewart slammed him—again—on The Daily Show this week (starts at 5:55) for that veto, and his
state’s largest newspaper did so again, too.
Finally, in a remarkable example of supply and
demand at work, as US meat consumption continues to wane, the leather
industry is taking a hit, as
Bloomberg notes in a fascinating story today.
Kip Andersen, the director of Cowspiracy, is very concerned about the effects of animal agriculture on the environment. Like, extremely concerned. Check out his petition on Change.org! Kip says:
When I learned that the fracking industry — despite the drought — used 70 million gallons of water last year alone, I was stunned. When I
learned that the Nestlé bottled water corporation is taking hundreds of
millions of gallons of California’s water to sell it back to the
population, I got angry. But, when I learned that animal agriculture in
California is using a staggering amount of 4.8 trillion gallons per
year, I was shocked! So shocked indeed, that I made a film about it.
I couldn’t believe that the meat and dairy industry accounts for 47 percent
of California’s water footprint, yet no one is trying to regulate this
thirsty industry!
But here is the most painful truth: California exports 100 billion gallons of water in the form of alfalfa every year to Asia for meat and dairy production!
Governor Jerry Brown has declared a drought emergency for the state
of California. California residents have been asked to be vigilant and
cut back on household water use, but only about 5 percent of California’s water
footprint is individual, personal use. This will not help solve the
severe problem that we’re all facing!
Join me in asking Governor Jerry Brown to hold the meat and
dairy industry responsible for its tremendous water usage and STOP THE
EXPORT OF 100 BILLION GALLONS OF CALIFORNIA’S WATER TO ASIA.
This is totally serious. Not only does nearly half of California’s water go to local animal agriculture, the state sends another 100 billion gallons’ worth of alfalfa to Asia for that continent’s animal agriculture. That is outrageous! You love California produce? You don’t want to see the state dry up into an uninhabitable desert? Sign the petition! Get everyone you know to sign the petition! Do it now!
Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer
published a column today that’s really worth a read. The politically
conservative author and commentator whose column is syndicated in more
than 400 newspapers writes, of animals, that he’s “convinced that our
great-grandchildren will find it difficult
to believe that we actually raised, herded and slaughtered them on an
industrial scale — for the eating.”
While on the topic of op-eds, if you think taking
shorter showers is the cure for California’s drought problem, I offer
some thoughts for your consideration in an op-ed I published in the Sacramento Bee this week.
And it was a big week for investigations, with
Compassion Over Killing releasing a North Carolina chicken slaughter exposé in the midst of a pending ag-gag bill there, and
Mercy For Animals releasing a Colorado pig factory exposé.
So it’s no surprise that interest in plant-based eating is on the rise, which is why Wendy’s is now
test marketing a black bean veggie burger in Ohio! Good thing the plant-based food companies are starting a
trade group, too.
P.S.
Video of the week: Have you ever seen chickens chasing blueberries?
The
fight is on in North Carolina, where an ag-gag bill is moving fast
through the legislature. Of course animal advocates are campaigning
against the bill, and so are
farmers and
celebrities, too. Watch HSUS’s commercial on this and take action.
Bird flu is sweeping the nation right now, exacerbated by factory farming conditions. Check out an
op-ed on the topic by my coworker Dr. Michael Greger (author of Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own Hatching), and feel free to watch an interview of mine on the issue, too.
Did you know that the nation has an all-vegetarian public school? Well,
we do, and it’s thriving. And of course, HSUS continues to spread the meat reduction message,
including in California for Earth Day this week.
P.S.
Video of the week: Sometimes cats give dogs a taste of their own medicine.
P.P.S. Are you on Twitter? Did you know that for
free you can “donate” your account to help occasionally get the word out
about important farm animal protection efforts? I’d be grateful if you
would—here’s
the link!
